Children Running Up Huge App Bills

By Nick Clayton

A massive rise in complaints to the U.K. premium rate regulator PhonepayPlus has been driven by children running up huge bills when using smartphones.

In its newly-published report Children as Connected Consumers (PDF) it says that fake apps based on popular games contained malicious code that charged the cellphone owner’s account £15 ($24) every time they were opened. But it warns there are risks even with legitimate apps, particularly those that are free to download initially, but charge for additional content.

Two-thirds of 11- to 16-year-olds download their own apps, and PhonepayPlus warned that parents could see bills of “hundreds or even thousands of pounds” as a result of these in-app purchases.

PhonepayPlus said that “naivety” from young people was often to blame and that it was causing concern among parents. Facebook is working with the regulator to try to make sure that any rogue offers are removed from its site as soon as possible.

The regulator said parents could take protective steps, such registering with a network that it is a child’s phone, persuading children not to give out their numbers online and making sure they know what is appropriate app use and that premium rate texts are not included in standard SMS packages.

“Smartphones in children’s pockets can burn holes in parents’ wallets, so we are working with partners across industry and other agencies to prevent this. This is a real challenge for parents and for us as a regulator,” said [PhonepayPlus' chief executive Paul] Whiteing.

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